Top roll clearer



March 30, 1954 c, SNYDER 2,673,375

TOP ROLL CLEARER Filed April 26, 1950 37 3f INVENTOR ATTORNEY! Patented Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATS TENT OFFICE 6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to combing machines employed in textile plants in the processing of cotton fiber preparatory to the spinning of yarn therefrom, and more particularly to an improved device for clearing the top detachment or delivery rolls of such combers. By clearing is meant removal from the top detachment rolls of lint and other waste matter which tends to gather on the detachment rolls and which, if not removed from such rolls, would later be deposited in the material which is delivered by the comber and would impede the further processing steps to which the material is to be subjected.

It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved clearing device for the purpose described, of simple and rugged construction, and which is adapted to produce better results than clearing devices now in use, in that it maintains the top detachment rolls in a cleaner condition at all times, and itself requires cleaning much less frequently than clearing devices now in use.

More specifically it is an object of the invention to provide a top roll clearing device comprising two cloth covered rollers each adapted to maintain constant peripheral contact with one of the two top detachment rolls of a well known type of comber, the clearer rolls being movable with the rear or back top detachment roll, while at the same time the front clearer roll maintains surface contact with the front detachment roll.

A further object is the provision of a device of the character described, including means preventing rotation of the clearer rolls during the period when the top detachment rolls, with which they are in constant contact, are rotating forwardly (in the delivery direction), but which permit the clearer rolls to rotate through frictional engagement with the top detachment rolls when the latter are rotated rearwardly, for a short space of time, as is periodically done in the operation of such devices. The action permits a new surface of each of the clearer rolls to be presented against the top detachment roll with which it is in contact, thus enhancing the cleaning or wiping action of the clearer rolls upon the detachment rolls.

Another object is the provision of a device of the character described which may be easily at tached to the arms which support and move the back top detachment roll of a standard comber and thus partakes of the periodical movement of such arms, and in which the clearer rolls are so supported that they may be easily removed from the assembly for the purpose of cleaning them individually by means of a wire brush or other suitable instrument.

A further object is the provision of a device of the character described, including a cover for the clearer rolls to prevent foreign objects from engaging them, and also for retaining the rolls in place in their supports, a portion of the said covering being removable, partially or wholly, to permit removal of the rolls from their bearings.

Other and further objects, features and advantages will be apparent from the description which follows, read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is a vertical transverse section of the clearer device in its assembled relation to the associated parts of the combing machine;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of the device as seen in Figure 2.

In order to facilitate an understanding of the invention, reference is made to the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive language is employed. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the invention is thereby intended and that various changes and alterations are contemplated such as Would ordinarily occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

The clearer device of the present invention is shown as applied to the detachment rolls of a combing machine commonly known in the trade as a Saco-Lowell comber and which conventionally comprises a framework I 0 providing bearin s E! for a rocker shaft IE on which are s cured rocker arms 13. Usually such a comber comprises a plurality of sets of detachment or delivery rolls arranged in alignment, and the rocker shaft l2 extends from end to end of the machine, being operated from the head at one end of the machine.

A second shaft I4 is mounted in bearings 15 also carried by the framework H3, and likewise extends from end to end of the machine and carries a plurality of levers l6, one for each lever l3. Each lever i6 is forked at its lower end for sliding engagement with a block I! which is pivoted upon the lever l3, and the rocking movements of the lever It thus cause a similar but opposite rocking movement of the lever it about the shaft 14.

An arm I8 is pivotally connected, as at It, to the upper end of each lever l5 and provides, at its further or distal end, a bearing for one end of a back top detachment roll it. The front top detachment roll 2| is carried in fixed bearings. not shown, as are also the fluted steel bottom detachment rolls 22 and 23. The top detachment rolls are usually and preferably leather covered.

Pivoted to the arm [8 at 24 is a Weight supporting link 25 which carries, at its lower end (not shown), a weight by means of which the arm I8 is biased downwardly to maintain the back top detachment roll 20 in contact with the roll 22. It will be noted that the roll 20, in the normal position illustrated in Figure 1, is not in vertical alignment with the roll 22 but its axis is disposed somewhat rearwardly of a vertical plane including the axis of the roll 22. When the lever I3 is periodically rocked rearwardly or to the left in Figure 1, the lever I6 is oscillated in a clockwise direction, thus causing the arm 13 and back top detachment roll 20 to be moved forwardly, the roll 20 being, however, maintained in contact with roll 22 by means of the weight carried on link 25. The mechanisms and operations described thus far are standard and well understood in the combing industry.

Heretofore it has been customary to employ, for clearing the top detachment rolls of combing machines, a device in which the element contacting the top detachment rolls comprises a cloth covered board or the like making wiping engagement with the rolls to be cleared. In such devices the wiping element presents only a restricted portion of its surface to the roll to be cleared, such restricted portion being always the same portion of said element. Therefore, the bite between the wiping element and its engaging roll becomes clogged more or less quickly with lint and waste material gathered by the roll, as a result of which the wiping element must be removed and cleaned at rather frequent intervals in order to perform its function efliciently. According to the present invention, on the contrary, the wiping element engaging each of the top detachment rolls itself comprises a roller, preferably cloth-covered, which is held against rotation during the delivery portion of the cycle, and thus has a wiping action on the top detachment roll with which it is associated, but rotates in a counterclockwise direction through a limited angle when the direction of rotation of the top detachment rolls is reversed. This reversal of the top detachment rolls is performed periodi ically for purposes well understood in the art, and as a result of the simultaneous rotation of the clearer rolls, a new wiping surface is presented to the top detachment rolls when they are again rotated in the forward or delivery direction.

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pair of supporting arms 25 each of which is pivotally mounted, as at 21, on one of the arms l8. Preferably the forward portion of the arm 26 comprises a threaded stud 28 which extends through a suitable transverse boring in the pivot 21 and is adjustable relative thereto by means of nut 29 and lock nut 30 engaging the threads on the stud 28. A coil spring 3| under compression between the pivot 21 and the shoulder 32 of the arm 26 maintains the latter in the position to which it has been adjusted relative to the pivot 21.

Each supporting arm 26 provides bearings for rotatably receiving the journals or axles of a pair of clearer rolls 33 and 34 which, as mentioned above, are preferably covered with cloth. Each roll is provided, at its right-hand end as seen n Figure 2, with a ratchet 3,5 rigid with the body of the roll, and the adjacent arm 26 is provided with posts or brackets 36 which pivotally support pawls 31 which engage the ratchets 35 and prevent rotation of the clearer rolls in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 1, while permitting their rotation in the counterclockwise direction.

The journals or axles of the roll 33 and 34 are made sufficiently longer than the roll bodies, and the spacing apart of the arms 26 is such that the rolls 33 and 34 may be individually removed from the device by shifting them first to the left as seen in Figure 2 thus disengaging the right-hand end of the journals from the, righthand arm 26, and then moving them to the right to remove the left-hand ends of th journals from their bearings in the left-hand arm 26.

A cover plate 38, which may be of sheet metal, is supported on the arms 26 by means of screws 39 fastening the downturned ends of the cover plate 38 to the respective supporting arms. The left-hand end of the cover plate is recessed as shown in dotted lines in Figure 4, to accommodate endwise movement of the rollers 33 and 3 3 to permit their removal as described above, such endwise movement being normally prevented by end plate 20 which fits over the left-hand end of cover plate 38 and is secured in place by means of a stud 4i and thumb nut L2. When it is desired to remove the rolls 33 and 34, the end plate Q9 may be adjusted upwardly, by loosening the thumb nut $2, to uncover the adjacent ends of the respective roller journals.

Knobs or handles 43 are provided on the top of the cover plate 38, by means of which the clearer device may be grasped and swung bodily about its pivots 2! to expose the detachment rolls.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A combination detachment assembly and top roll clearer for combers, comprising bottom, front and back detachment rolls mounted on fixed axes,

a top front detachment roll mounted on a fixed axis, a top back detachment roll mounted on a movable axis, means for periodically shifting said top back detachment roll upwardly and forwardly, then downwardly and rearwardly, supports mounted on and movable with said means, front and back clearer rolls journalled on said supports and movable therewith, said clearer rolls engaging, respectively, said top front and back detachment rolls, the axis of said front clearer roll being disposed rearwardly of the fixed axis of the said top front detachment roll, and the axis of said top back detachment roll being disposed rearwardly of the axis of said bottom back detachment roll when said movable rolls are in their rearward position, the diameters of said rolls and the points of connection between said supports and said shifting means being such that each of said clearer rolls remains in constant peripheral contact with one of said detachment rolls during the said F shifting movement, and means associated with said clearer rolls for preventing their rotation in one direction.

2. A combination detachment assembly and top roll clearer for combers, comprising bottom, front and back detachment rolls mounted on fixed axes, a top front detachment roll mounted on a fixed axis, a top back detachment roll mounted on a movable axis, means for periodically shifting said top back detachment roll upwardly and forwardly, then downwardly and rearwardly, sup

ports mounted on and movable with said means, front and back clearer rolls journalled on said supports and movable therewith, said clearer rolls engaging, respectively, said top front and back detachment rolls, the axis of said front clearer roll being disposed rearwardly of the fixed axis of the said top front detachment roll, and the axis of said top back detachment roll being disposed rearwardly of the axis of said bottom back detachment roll when said movable rolls are in their rearward position, the diameters of said rolls and the points of connection between said supports and said shifting means being such that each of said clearer rolls remains in constant peripheral contact with one of said detachment rolls during the said shifting movement, and means associated with said clearer rolls for preventing their rotation in the direction in which they are urged by said detachment rolls when the latter are rotating forwardly.

3. A combination detachment assembly and top roll clearer for combers, comprising bottom, front and back detachment rolls mounted on fixed axes, a top front detachment roll mounted on a fixed axis, a top back detachment roll mounted on a movable axis, means for periodically shifting said top back detachment roll upwardly and forwardly, then downwardly and rearwardly, supports mounted on and movable with said means, front and back clearer rolls journalled on said supports and movable therewith, said clearer rolls engaging, respectively, said top front and back detachment rolls, the axis of said front clearer roll being disposed rearwardly of the fixed axis of the said top front detachment roll, and

the axis of said top back detachment roll being disposed rearwardly of the axis of said bottom back detachment roll when said movable rolls are in their rearward position, the diameters of said rolls and the points of connection between said supports and said shifting means being such that each of said clearer rolls remains in constant peripheral contact with one of said detachment rolls during the said shifting movement, and means associated with said clearer rolls for preventing their rotation in the direction in which they are urged by said detachment rolls when the latter are rotating forwardly, said last means comprising a ratchet and pawl associated with each said clearer roll.

4. The combination defined in claim 1, said supports being pivoted on said shifting means to permit said supports and clearer rolls to swing away from said detachment rolls.

5. The combination defined in claim 1, said supports being pivoted on said shifting means to permit said supports and clearer rolls to swing away from said detachment rolls, said supports being adjustable transversely of said pivot axis.

6. The combination defined in claim 1, said clearer rolls having surfaces of cloth.

CLAUDE E. SNYDER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,529,149 Taylor Mar. 10, 1925 1,639,802 Jones et a1 Aug. 23, 1927 2,389,684 Pierrepont Nov. 27, 1945 

